We've been watching an idea for new HVDC transmission completely buried along existing rail and apparently so have some investors. SOO Green Renewable Rail has new financial backing from Siemens, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and Jingoli Power, the project's developer announced today. The project can now begin efforts to get the project permitted, and attract commercial interest. It's getting real, folks!
Why am I so excited about this? Because it's a better idea whose time is finally at hand! What's better? How about no eminent domain? With the transmission lines buried in a two foot wide trench along existing rail, and work performed from the rail, this kind of transmission doesn't become a burden on landowners.
Developers liken their new transmission idea to our fiber optic system. I haven't heard about any fiber optic builders plowing through private property and stringing an overhead hazard that farmers have to work around in perpetuity, have you? Of course not! They bury that stuff along existing rights of way and don't bother anyone. It's about time we jettison old transmission ideas in favor of new technology and new solutions that avoids the power struggle between transmission developers and landowners that routinely delays and cancels so many old transmission ideas.
Buried transmission is also a better idea from a safety and reliability perspective.
Why am I so excited about this? Because it's a better idea whose time is finally at hand! What's better? How about no eminent domain? With the transmission lines buried in a two foot wide trench along existing rail, and work performed from the rail, this kind of transmission doesn't become a burden on landowners.
Developers liken their new transmission idea to our fiber optic system. I haven't heard about any fiber optic builders plowing through private property and stringing an overhead hazard that farmers have to work around in perpetuity, have you? Of course not! They bury that stuff along existing rights of way and don't bother anyone. It's about time we jettison old transmission ideas in favor of new technology and new solutions that avoids the power struggle between transmission developers and landowners that routinely delays and cancels so many old transmission ideas.
Buried transmission is also a better idea from a safety and reliability perspective.
“The fact is that going underground, you don’t have wires rubbing up against trees. You are not going to have tornado impacts. It is safer and more resilient,” said Joe DeVito, president of Direct Current Development Co., which has developed the project.
You're probably not going to burn the state down, either.
We've simply got to jettison the idea that landowners must sacrifice in order to build new transmission. SOO Green proves that they don't have to!
So, what's in store for the project next? It needs permits from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Utilities Board, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and various local jurisdictions. But it doesn't plan to seek eminent domain authority, and without landowner resistance, who's going to object and slow things down?
It also needs customers. Will investor owned utilities show interest in a transmission project that's more of a sure thing, not bogged down in contentious permitting marathons? Or do the big utilities still want to own everything themselves? Will a new kind of customer show up to use a new kind of transmission project? Let's hope so, because building this transmission project raises the bar for future projects.
Why should a state sell out and permit an overhead transmission route that uses eminent domain when it can get all the benefits without having its landscape littered with linear infrastructure? The smart states might even increase their revenue by leasing space along existing highways for new buried transmission. What state couldn't use a new source of revenue for its road system? States could stop being cheap dates and accepting old technology, and perhaps set their sights a little higher in the future.
Imagine, a future where high voltage transmission is buried, along with all the other linear infrastructure that transports commodities long distances.
We've simply got to jettison the idea that landowners must sacrifice in order to build new transmission. SOO Green proves that they don't have to!
So, what's in store for the project next? It needs permits from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Utilities Board, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and various local jurisdictions. But it doesn't plan to seek eminent domain authority, and without landowner resistance, who's going to object and slow things down?
It also needs customers. Will investor owned utilities show interest in a transmission project that's more of a sure thing, not bogged down in contentious permitting marathons? Or do the big utilities still want to own everything themselves? Will a new kind of customer show up to use a new kind of transmission project? Let's hope so, because building this transmission project raises the bar for future projects.
Why should a state sell out and permit an overhead transmission route that uses eminent domain when it can get all the benefits without having its landscape littered with linear infrastructure? The smart states might even increase their revenue by leasing space along existing highways for new buried transmission. What state couldn't use a new source of revenue for its road system? States could stop being cheap dates and accepting old technology, and perhaps set their sights a little higher in the future.
Imagine, a future where high voltage transmission is buried, along with all the other linear infrastructure that transports commodities long distances.
“The successful deployment of this HVDC technology along railroads will create a market segment that doesn’t exist today, and DC DevCo believes that the SOO Green project will set the standard regarding how transmission lines are developed and constructed in the U.S.,” states Trey Ward, DC DevCo’s CEO.
Good luck, SOO Green Renewable Rail! We'll be following this story...
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